When One Shitty Band Sues Another: Rubinoos vs. Avril

[SKEPTIC]

Avril Lavigne Sued for Stealing Tune

The Associated Press
Friday, July 6, 2007; 4:22 AM

SAN FRANCISCO -- Avril Lavigne faces a lawsuit by the members of a 1970s rock band who claim her hit song "Girlfriend" rips off one of their tunes.

Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer alleged in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that Lavigne and her co-writers lifted their 1979 song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," which was originally performed by new wave band The Rubinoos.

"We are not so naive as to chalk it up to some sort of cosmic coincidence," Dunbar said in a statement Thursday. "The lyric, the meter, the rhythm _ they're identical."

The first court date has been set for Aug. 28 in Oakland.

A spokeswoman for Lavigne declined comment.

The lawsuit is not the first mention of the similarities between the songs. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a review published on Billboard magazine's Web site, noted that the chorus of "Girlfriend" was a "total lift from the Rubinoos' `I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.'"

The Rubinoos toured and recorded from 1975 to 1983 and had a hit with a cover version of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now." They also wrote the theme song for the movie "Revenge of the Nerds."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070600311.html

Ok, so both bands suck. But, as a musical/legal matter it's kinda interesting.

See below for a short, 30-second clip, comparing the two choruses. I think they are very similar, and Avril's record company may be coughing up some cash to settle this and make this case go away.

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The complete Rubinoos song can be found on their MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/rubinoos

Avril's complete song is here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cQ25-glGRzI

And, of course, the "When Did Avril Lavigne Get Hot?" thread here:D

http://wackbag.com/showthread.php?t=64768

[dodisman]

oh she totally ripped that other group off...or her producers did or whoever really puts that crap together...Rubinoos will get a nice payday for that

[NoSurviivors]

caught!

[YourAmishDaddy]

Yet another reason I love the business I'm in.

[Creampier]

Do artists on big record labels even write their own songs anymore? I mean, Avril is married and has her life in decent order (I assume), yet she's still playing down to 14 year old teenybopper girls.

I think you need a new girlfriend??! Does he? You're married, cunt!!!

[YourAmishDaddy]

People market themselves, and even more A&R markets them for what the listening public wants. Avril has on many occasions said she writes her own songs. Judging by how shallow and simplistic they are I can believe it for most of them.

I've seen many a band or singer get a contract, have all these big ideas, how they want to present themselves and come out of A&R whipped beaten and broken. Sounding like a carbon copy of the next douche with a microphone.

That's how it works, you play ball, or they take the contract you signed and record everything you made, then sit you on a shelf. Because the music isn't yours they can do that. And then they stick you with the bills.

As for this song it's almost blatantly similar. So Avril's people will have to give up something. Nine out of ten they'll settle for a certain sum, plus future royalties.

[TreeFortRichard]

how about someone put them both against "Hey, hey, you, you, get off of my cloud..." -1965 rolling stones

hoo hoo...everyone rips everyone off in music...

[YourAmishDaddy]

how about someone put them both against "Hey, hey, you, you, get off of my cloud..." -1965 rolling stones

hoo hoo...everyone rips everyone off in music...

Pretty much.

[Joe Avezzano]

hoo hoo...everyone rips everyone off in music...

As in every country song since about 1990.

[SKEPTIC]

how about someone put them both against "Hey, hey, you, you, get off of my cloud..." -1965 rolling stones


Found it.

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[SKEPTIC]

That Rolling Stones song, among others, is going to be Avril's defense. However, I still think the Rubinoos and Avril songs are so close, that Avril's record label will likely throw money at the Rubinoos to settle this, although we are getting close to that Aug 28 court date.

More on Avril's defense from Wikipedia:


Lavigne's manager, Terry McBride, denied that "Girlfriend" was copied from "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," and pointed out that "Boyfriend" itself is similar to The Rolling Stones' "Get off of My Cloud". McBride said he hired a musicologist to compare the songs; according to McBride the musicologist reported that the songs were totally dissimilar, even a different metre. McBride said that Lavigne has no current plans to settle the case, but will consider the costs of defending the case against those of settling.[11]

Critics have also compared the middle section with the bridge from Toni Basil's "Mickey." [12]

Likewise, both songs in the lawsuit – by virtue of either song title, comparable lyrics or themes – seem to owe a debt to “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” which was written by Tommy Ramone, and released in 1976 on the self-titled debut album by the Ramones about three years before The Rubinoos song with the same name.

It should also be noted that “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” by Lush – found on the 1997 B-sides compilation Topolino – has similarities, in either style, subject matter, or in the “hey, you” lyric from “Get off of My Cloud”, to the songs by Lavigne, The Rubinoos and The Ramones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girlfriend_%28Avril_Lavigne_song%29

[TreeFortRichard]

i love that i noticed the similarity...I want to be a musicologist

[Not You]

i love that i noticed the similarity...I want to be a musicologist

MODS, can TreeFortRichard be the "Official Musicologist" of Wackbag.com?

[Vyce]

I would like to stick my penis inside Avril Lavigne's vagina. And, possibly, her mouth and anus as well.

And thus, that sums up my feelings on this matter.

[LiddyRules]

Why don't people start on about how Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" is the same as that song that goes "It's Just...A Little Touch" from the late 90s and used in the trailer for Simply Irresitable.

I don't know how I remember that.

[maxeypad]

I would like to stick my penis inside Avril Lavigne's vagina. And, possibly, her mouth and anus as well.

And thus, that sums up my feelings on this matter.

good call :clap: just better hope her teeth doesn't rip the skin off......